Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-05-28
THE CORNERSTONE OF RELIGION.

thy nelghbor as thySelf y; and again,
II command you that ye love one
another.n There can be nothing
more simple and Ineligible, it
would seem, than these declarations
of the Saviour. Prior to his coming,
the world had been overwhelmed
with mysteries. Religions which
appealed to the intellect and the
imagination were as plentiful as they
were confusing to the masses of
mankind. Confucius, ZorOaster,
Buddha, OSIRIS and the magnificent
pantheism of the Greeks gave un-
limited scope to speculation, but did
not furnish the one spark to vitalize
the hearts and the hopes of the com
mon people. Christ struck the key
note, love, to set the world aflame,
and future life of bliss to inspire
hope. There is no mystery about
loving ones neighbor as oneself, ex-
cept the difficulty of doing it, and a
future life beyond the grave is not
stranger than the operations of ma
ture going on daily before our eyes.
Spring as it clothes the waste places
with verdure and. covers the dead
trees with foliage, typifies immor.
tally. Flowers in their radiance
are beautiful type of the soul set
free and raised "to higher things.n
But is the Christianity of today
the same which Christ taught? Is
love the animating principle OF
those who attend church on Sunday,
and does it so control their thoughts
and actions as to cause them to en-
brace the millions who for one
reason or another never put their
foot inside of Gods temple? Does
it ever occur to the welldressed
Christians as they sit in their lux
uriously upholstered pews and
languidly listen to the soothing and
too often f1attering words of some
popular divine, that they could
serve God quite as well by going
out into the overcrowded portions of
the city and modestly and lovingly
pointing out the inestimable bless
ings which their timid, bashful,
ignorant or contumacious neighbors
are rejecting, bearing as it were in
one hand the Gospel of Christ, and
with the other illustrating it by
timely aid to the destitute and
miserable? Do they not too often
put on their religion with their Sun.
day clothes, and fold it away care
fully at night in the wardrobe with
their cast.off garments? On their
way to their places of business
during the week, as they thrust a
too importunate urchin out Of the
way, or scowl upon whining beg
gar, do they ever think of the words
which struck them as so beautiful
and consoling on the previous Sun
day, or that terrible denunciation
for those who refuse comfort to
Gods poor, "Depart from me, We
cursed, into everlasting fire % 20
The leading men of our day are
seriously exercised concerning the
progress of Anarchy, Socialism and
kindred evils, even in this country
of exceptional privileges and add
vantages. They are surprised and
alarmed at the encouragement given
the DEVILS disciples and the foothold
gained by the devils own religion.
Has it ever dawned upon them that
their skirts are not altogether clean
in this matter? Modern civilization
is built upon modern Christianity.
The splendid churches in the great
cities are its most conspicuous mon
uments, while the less pretentious
structures in the rural districts are
far more imposing than any other
objects of interest in their vicinity.
They are the outward and visible
signs of a system which is thorough
ly interviewer with our social, in
dustrial and political life. This
religion, as taught by Christ, is
above criticism. Even as a merely
human institution, faithfully admin
istered, it would produce benefcent
results, compared with which the
worlds moral and physical progress
is still embryotic. When, there
fore, the poor and ignorant, which
constitute the bulk ofthe people, are
confronted with the contrast be-
tween precept and performance, the
result is inevitable. 1t is plain.
Christ exalted the humble and
lowly, but there is no place for them
in many of His modern temples. He
charged His followers to love one
another, which many of them to-day
appear to interpret to love those
who are in the same set with them,
to worship or envy those who are in
better set, and to despise those
whom the fiat of fashion, or the
fickleness of fortune, has put below
them. "Do unto others as yon
would they should do unto you," is
too often construed Do unto others
as you believe, from their means,
standing and opportunities, they will
be likely to do unto you" Gushing
piety on Sunday is too often follow
ed during the remaining six days of
the week by excuses in living;
grasping avarice, which would
rather strip ones neighbor than
clothe him; contempt of those who
do not measure up to ones stand
ard in money, mind or social position;
harsh criticism, and condemnation
OF the weak, the ignorant and the
unfortunate, and still harsher treat
ment if, through the exigencies of
business or domestic life, one is
brought in contact with them.
The masses of the people grow
skeptical of religion which prom.
ises so much and performs SO little
for them. They have not been